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Naturally, this isn’t the Dark Shadows that we know from ABC-TV’s
afternoon lineup. I’m talking about the two-dimensional Dark
Shadows, which has been renewed for a second season by the
Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation. They released the first set
of DS trading cards last year, and now they’ve got a fresh new take
on the soap sensation.

The “2nd Series” of cards, as their wrapper proclaimed, was issued
in the summer of 1969, capitalising on the tremendous popularity of
the then current 1897 storyline and the newest Dark Shadows star,
David Selby as Quentin Collins.

The 66 cards in the series covered the earlier period of 1897, once
again composed of black-and-white publicity stills, generally taken
during dress rehearsals on the set. The cards had a wavy green
border which was probably intended to resemble a picture frame.
There were no autograph facsimiles on the individual cards of the
set, but there were small purple dialogue boxes which were usually
directly above the bottom green border, over the still itself. In a
few cases, the box would find its way to the top or centre of the
photo. Each of these had a simple sentence, in black lettering,
explaining the scene on the card. The sentences were presented as
attribute character quotes. The story was somewhat stilted when put
together, but any young fan of the show could tell exactly what was
happening.

On the bottom section of the wavy green border, from left to right,
appeared the assigned card number and “1969 DAN CURTIS PRODUCTIONS
INC. PCGC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRTD. IN U.S.A.”, as seen on series
one. The backs of the 66 cards of the set formed four different
black-and-white “pin-up” photos, each with a green facsimile
autograph in the lower right corner. These were Barnabas (foyer
painting), Angelique (as seen on pink card 38), Quentin Collins (as
seen on green card 43), and Chris Jennings (werewolf, as seen on
green card 66).

The packaging reflected the style of the cards, with a wrapper
depicting Collinwood on the lower edge of its centre panel, a sepia
photo set in a green background and a purple strip in the upper left
hand corner proclaiming “2nd Series” in white letters.

A white version of the series logo dominated the upper centre of the
front of the gum pack. Beneath these words were the smaller, plain
black words “WALLET PHOTOS AND BUBBLE GUM”. In the lower right
corner “5¢” was announced in green. The white borders of the wrapper
contained at least two different ads, these appearing to the right
of the center panel. They were ads for SWELL bubble gum (Favorite of
Champions!) , and the famous Barnabas Ring ad, complete with
drawings of the ring and the vampire. These wrappers held 5 random
cards and a single stick of bubble gum.

The Barnabas ring was a tie-in promotion with the cards that became
one of the rarest and sought-after Dark Shadows collectables. For
50c and five gum wrappers, fans could obtain a cheap replica of the
ring Barnabas wore on the show by mail order from Timco Industries.
Because so few survived, they have recently commanded prices of over
$1000.00 from collectors. In 1998, MPI Home Video produced a
licensed replica of the ring.kboxes of 24, with the display box
similar in style to the packs. The top of the box sows the

The Cards: A Description

The second series focuses on plotline rather than the character
portraits of the first series. The bulk of the cards feature the
1897 storyline involving Quentin as a zombie. This story began with
episode 722 (aired on April 1 1969; taped on March 25 1969), when
Quentin is re-animated, concluding with the arrival of Gregory Trask
and his “curing” of both Quentin and the possessed Jamison in
episode 726 (aired on April 7 1969; taped on March 31 1969). Cards
7-48 deal with this story. Interestingly, Trask wears glasses in the
shots on the cards; by tape time, the decision was made to not use
the spectacles. The same frames had appeared earlier, as the Eagle
Hill cemetery caretaker’s, in 1967.

The first six cards depict Barnabas, with dialogue such as: “I must
go back to the past to save the boy’s life,” and “Why is the ghost
possessing Jamison?”, beginning the main story. Card 1 is one of the
“bat against red moon” series taken in 1967. Cards 2-4appear to be
taken during rehearsal for episode 725 (taped March 28 1969, aired
April 4 1969). A color version of card 5 can be found on the back
cover of Barnabas Collins: A Personal Picture Album, with Jonathan
Frid’s autograph, taken on the stairway in the Old House.
Interestingly, the publicity still on card 6 is the only series shot
not done on the set during dress rehearsals. This is a location shot
of Barnabas inside a mansion, standing on a staircase with a heavy
coat and a large book in his right hand. Another picture from this
shoot can be seen on the cover of MPI Home Video’s The Best of
Barnabas video. He is in modern dress, as in cards 1 and 5.

After general angst and disbelief in cards 7-48 (all shot during
dress rehearsal for episode 725, with the exception of card 14,
taken during 719), cards 49-62 take place at various times before
Quentin’s murder by “Crazy Jenny” and his subsequent revival as a
zombie. Cards 49-58 take place during episode 719 (aired March 27
1969; taped March 20 1969).

Card 49 has a direct quote from the episode, in Judith’s
declaration, “That music is driving me mad!”. The series had a
maddening habit of quoting faithfully at times, then inserting
absurd quotes, such as those attributed to the unthinking zombie
Quentin: “I’ll die when the moon is full!” Also, at the series end,
the werewolf has coherent thought, a la the Gold Key Comics: “I must
hurry, dawn means death!” The remainder of the cards through to 58
focus on Magda telling Quentin’s fortune, with Quentin and Judith
arguing.

A brief sidelight is explored in cards 51 and 52, involving Dirk and
Judith discussing Judith’s secret—Jenny Collins. Cards 59 and 60
deal with “Mad Jenny” interacting with Dirk and Judith. Card 61
shows her happily looking at the keys to her prison-room, taken from
Dirk after knocking him out cold. All of these shots also originate
from episode 719. Card 62 seems to be from the same episode, showing
Jenny brandishing a knife. Then, suddenly, we are whisked away from
the gaslight of 1897 to 1969. Cards 63-66, are from this era,
depicting the werewolf. Card 64, in particular, shows the werewolf
and Carolyn in Elizabeth’s mausoleum during dress rehearsal for
episode 672 (aired on January 20 1969; taped on January 13 1969).

Card 64 is one of the unique cards in the series, betraying the
manner in which the stills were procured. Several of the stars have
discussed the introduction of a photographer into the rehearsal
process, with some resentment. In an interview which appeared in
Craig Hamrick’s Dark Shadows Collector’s Guide, Kathryn Leigh Scott
explained: “We would actually come on the set with our hair in
curlers or an old bathrobe on,” apparently in rebellion against
having no say in the merchandising or photo selection. In 64, we see
Carolyn screaming in terror, as Alex Stevens half-heartedly stares
off toward the camera, with no hand make-up! On cards 32, 33, 43,
46, and 48, Quentin is missing his mutton chops! One can only
imagine the more obvious examples of unusable stills, bathrobes and
all! Actually, one has only to go to the Imagine 1993 card set to
see what this would have been like. Card 54 of that series shows
Scott and Don Briscoe in a scene depicting Rachel Drummond’s mortal
wounding in episode 776 (aired on June 16 1969; taped on June 9,
1969). In this still, Scott is indeed in bathrobe and curlers.

According to Jeff and Bob Marks, in their article about Philadelphia
Gum in The Wrapper, the folks at Swell gum sent a photographer over
to take shots for the card series, augmented with existing stills
from Dan Curtis Productions. For the second series, it seems the
photographer recorded two different taping dates: Thursday March 20
(episode 719), and Friday March 28 (episode 725) 1969. 59 of the
cards bear images from these two production dates; 44 from 725 and
15 from 719.

Interestingly, several characters key to the early storyline
depicted on these cards, along with actors who appeared in the
episodes the photos were taken during, were absent from the card
set. Angelique, who caused Quentin to become a zombie, was not
included, her puzzle-back picture taken from a 1795 photograph.
Rachel Drummond is nowhere to be seen. The simpering Carl Collins,
who is there when the dead Quentin is re-animated as a zombie, is
absent. Sandor, with his rescue of Rachel from the undead Quentin,
would have lent some more action to the story. But, all things
considered, including some flawed captions and blurry touch-ups, the
second series is a fun and interesting glimpse of the early goings-
on at 1897 Collinwood.